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PACT analysis

1. People - Identify the people who will use the system and the people who will be affected by the interactive system. The people are the front-end consumer and the back-end customer care representative. What information must be provided to the consumer through the user interface to get the right inputs? The system online help and input forms can be designed based on this. Special consideration may be given to people with disability. There may be limitations due to the language or specific culture requirements. What information the back-end customer care representative requires in order to fulfil the consumer order? The input form box and buttons can be designed accordingly.

2. Activity - Identify the activities that will be performed by the interactive system. The activities are functions and features of the interactive system that require user inputs and hence user interface. There may be a need to design different menus for each activity. There may be some common functionality and therefore some software modules can be re-used.

3. Context - Recognise the context in which the interactive system will be used. The social context: how the interactive system will influence the social set-up of the consumer. How can this interactive system make the consumer social life more active and pleasing? Example: e-commerce saves time, presents more options to choose from, 24hr availability and global shopping but there is a concern about security of online transaction and product delivery. The physical context: what convenience does interactive system add to the physical aspects of life. E-commerce saves time & gas. The environmental context: the scope of use of the interactive system, i.e. public, organization or an institution. E-commerce is a way of global social networking.

4. Technology - What are the necessary hardware and software technologies required to implement the interactive system? The basic requirements must be differentiated from the advanced features.

This analysis is an input to the system specification and requirements definition phase. PACT analysis can be conducted in all other phases of the product development life cycle. PACT analysis can be done for any product development and is not limited to the HCI of an interactive system.